Blooded

Chapter 2

They had bright red eyes, with slits for the pupils. For a moment, I thought they were a cat, but they rose up to a human's height. My pulse quickened and my body was shaken by fear. Nothing else looked like this, and I suddenly understood what they were.

Vampire. Everybody knew about vampires. They were one of the seven horrors of the world. Along with werewolves and other evil beings, vampires were nearly at the top of the list. Even from a storybook, their sharp fangs and red eyes were trademarks to their evil image.

The vampire looked at me with their bright red eyes, then started running at me. I panicked and fell backward, knocking the bucket of wood toward the vampire. The metal from the bucket's handle smacked against the vampires head, spraying firewood everywhere. The vampire stopped in her tracks, then wiped a finger across her lip. Her bright pale skin was nearly snow compared to the dark red blood across her lip. As I looked at her, she seemed familiar.

"Oh, It's you." She smiled, but she didn't smile like a vampire would. Her smile seemed kind and happy.

I fell down, smacking my back against the ground. The vampire looked at me, amused. I eyed the firewood on the ground. Was some of it there sharp enough? I hoped the legends about vampires were accurate.

There was no way I was getting out of here alive unless I managed to kill the vampire.

I had never killed anything before, but did this thing even count as living?

"Wow. You actually made me bleed, kid," the vampire said, "I'm proud."

I walked along, reaching for a thick stick. It didn't look sharp enough to be a stake, but it was close to me and might do a little damage. Maybe if I broke the tip it would be sharp enough.Hell, I forgot I had my axe. I had also, unfortunately, dropped it. Behind the vampire.Well, that wasn't going to help.

"Don't worry, I don't intend to kill you. Just fall asleep for now, and everything will be okay." the vampire sighed, opening her mouth. A pair of giant fangs sprung from her mouth. Quickly, I took hold of the stick as tight as I possibly could. Would I have time to break it? The vampire noticed what I was doing, and started to run up to me.

I ignored breaking it, then swung the stick in front of me as fast as possible, facing upward. If I was quick enough, I might be able to beat a vampires speed, which was pretty hard to beat. There was a crunch, then a pained groan. I had closed my eyes in fear, but then felt something drop against my cheek.

Slowly, I opened my eyes. Bright red eyes stared into mine. I looked down, toward the stick. Luckily, somehow impossibly, it was stuck in the woman's stomach, just below the rib cage.

The vampire groaned again, then coughed. A giant wave of blood splashed into my face. I groaned back, disgusted and on the verge of vomiting.

Then I started to panic. Had any gotten into my mouth? I quickly pushed the vampire off of me and to the spot of the ground to my right.

She stumbled a few feet, her hand against her wound.

"What have you done? God that hurts!" She groaned, looking down, "s**t, s**t s**t! f**k!"

"You had it coming," I chuckled. Then I remembered when she coughed on me, just moments ago. I panicked again, then stuck my hand in my mouth to check to see if there was any there. Slowly, I brought it out. It was bright red. Suddenly, I realized something. My hands were bloody from the wound in the stomach. If I didn't get any blood in my mouth, I sure did now.

I groaned, knowing I was an idiotic fool. Maybe I was still able to wash it out. I quickly stood up, looking at the forge. Quickly, I started running toward it.

"uhghhhh." I heard somebody say, groaning. The sound came from the forge, or beside it maybe?

My father.

I had forgotten about him.

Quickly, I started to run up the stairs toward my dad. It was still hard to see in the dim forge light, but I could tell it was bad.

His entire neck was bright red. His skin was cold and pale. His eyes looked at the ceiling, already devoid of life.

"Dad?" I gasped. I saw his head rested against the floor and his eyes steadily open. I brought my hand to his eyelids then slowly closed them. I sat there in shock. Was this really happening? He was fine just an hour ago, how could my dad be dead now.

I turned back to the vampire, then walked toward her.

"What have you done!" I screamed, falling to my knees. The vampire woman looked into my eyes, breathing heavily as she did so.

"You weren't supposed to see that," The vampire woman said, "You weren't supposed to return for another hour."

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused. Then, I heard doors open across the village.

"I'll explain everything tomorrow. I'm sorry about your father, but you must still meet me near the firewood stump at midnight!"

Then the vampire was gone, probably somewhere far away from here. I fell back, not sure what just happened. One moment the vampire seemed to be trying to kill me, the next she was talking to me like another person.